CAPE MAY- Questions remain why the architects, engineers and contractor that built Convention Hall did not indicate on a Flood Elevation Certificate the lowest structural member of the building was at an elevation of 8 feet, far below the FEMA elevation standard of 15 feet.
The city is investigating legal action to recover high flood insurance costs as a result of a sump pump room being built an elevation of 8 feet.
At a March 19 City Council meeting City Solicitor Tony Monzo read a prepared statement:
“On March 8, the City had a meeting with high level FEMA officials to discuss the results of the Convention Hall Flood Elevation Certificate. The meeting was requested by the City as a proactive measure to determine if there are any problems with the construction of the building and, if so, what actions should be taken. This meeting was scheduled after three months of discussions with federal and state officials, extensive research and fact gathering; all in an effort to address the issues in a complete and comprehensive fashion.”
“At the outset, it was confirmed that FEMA has no regulatory authority with respect to the construction of Convention Hall or with respect to any construction in the private or public sector. FEMA does, on the other hand, have guidelines and standards which are applied to all development activities in flood prone areas for the purposes of providing flood insurance and establishing premiums through the National Flood Insurance Program. It has no enforcement authority and cannot impose fines or take any other legal action for noncompliance. In this case, FEMA has offered to provide technical assistance and work with the City in order to obtain full compliance and to ensure that the flood insurance rates at Convention Hall are as low as possible.
“With respect to the Flood Elevation Certificate, it was noted that the lowest structural member section of the form was not completed, which is a requirement for the V Zone. However, FEMA officials also estimated it to be approximately the same as the top of the lowest floor, which is 8.51 feet in the area known as the sump pump room, covers an area of approximately 100 square feet. The remainder of the building has a finished floor elevation 15.21 feet, which exceeds the FEMA requirement of 15 feet.”
“At this time FEMA is not requiring the submission of a corrected Flood Elevation Certificate. They are reviewing with their engineering department any issues with respect to the sump pump room and the fire suppression system to determine what actions may be required to achieve full compliance with the FEMA guidelines. There do not appear to be any other significant problems with respect to the construction of Convention Hall.”
“Based upon this meeting, the City is presently waiting for guidance from FEMA regarding the sump pump room and fire suppression system with an objective to achieve 100 percent compliance. The City will seek full reimbursement for all costs and expenses in connection with this matter, including any additional flood insurance premiums previously paid. In that regard, the City has already placed the architect and all engineers that were involved in the design of the building as well as its construction manager and general contractor on notice, and instructed them to advise their carriers as to a potential claim.”
Monzo continued in his statement: “Notwithstanding these issues and based on the inspections conducted by FEMA and private sector insurance representatives in connection with the insurance underwriting process, both before and after Sandy, there has been no storm related damage to Convention Hall, the building is safe and the City has been roughly complimented for an infrastructure system that is substantially more than adequate to prevent damage from any future storms and to protect the City’s investment.”
“Because of the ongoing negotiations and the potential for litigation, the City is unable to address any specific questions at the present time, he said.
At a council meeting earlier in the month, resident Charles Hendricks commented the city’s flood insurance premiums for Convention Hall were four times higher than normal.
The city is reserving $120,000 in the 2013 budget to purchase annual flood insurance for Convention Hall.
At the March 19 council meeting, Hendricks tore up comments he had prepared prior to hearing Monzo’s statement.
“I am really pleased by what I heard tonight,” said Hendricks.
He said Convention Hall was set too low which was a significant error by the firms of Kimmel Bogrette, KBA Architecture and Fralinger Engineering. He said the cost to citizens because of the “damage to the building” would amount to $1 million over the lifetime of Convention Hall.
Villas – Yep, here come those mask mandates again starting in, of course, a blue state. If there isn't a virus yet for the mask, they will find one before November 5th.
